Exhaust gas sensors to determine the oxygen content of exhaust gases from automotive internal combustion engines frequently use a solid electrolyte body, for example a closed tube of zirconium oxide on which an electrode system is applied, one electrode forming a measuring electrode on the electrode body which consists of a material which catalyzes the gas equilibrium at the body. To protect the material--typically a thin-film platinum electrode--a porous cover layer is applied thereover. Such sensors are introduced to the exhaust gas stream from the engine. The thin-film platinum is usually applied to the solid electrolyte, outwardly closed tube by vapor deposition. The porous cover layer is preferably a ceramic material, for example spinel. The exhaust gases from the internal combustion (IC) engine are very hot and these sensors, when exposed to the high temperatures of the exhaust gases, have a limited lifetime. It is believed that the limited life is due to damage to the thin film, for example by components in the exhaust gas itself, in that the thin film layer on the solid electrolyte loses its adhesion on the solid electrolyte body and flakes off, thus also resulting in flaking off of the protective covering layer thereover which leads to further damage to the sensor and eventually to its destruction.